New to St Matthew's EYFS 2024

Nursery and Reception Starters 2024

Welcome to St Matthew's CE Primary School

We look forward to welcoming you and your child as they start their school journey with us at St Matthew's. Below you will will find some useful information about starting at St Matthew's and some ideas on supporting you child to be school ready.

We can't wait to begin our exciting adventure together.

If you require any further information, please contact our school office via email at [email protected] or call 0161 474 7110.

What our learning looks like in the EYFS

In Nursery and Reception, we are so lucky that we can take our learning both indoors and outdoors. We take pride in our provision and believe it is the right of all children to be immersed in rich and broad learning experiences. We include areas such as: phonics, maths, creative and physical in both indoors and outdoors, and we promote independence to support children in their application of newly taught skills.

Click here to find out about Nursery.

Click here to find out about Reception.

Useful Speech and Language Information

Why are the Early Years so important?

It is generally accepted that children’s early experiences have the biggest impact on their later life.

In the first five years, children develop physically, cognitively, and emotionally at a faster rate than at any other time.

In our Nursery and Reception, teachers work hard to embed positive attitudes towards school and learning.

In addition to setting the expectations for children’s behaviour and building a sound understanding of key concepts such as reading and numbers.

It is believed that children who are taught well in their first school year go on to achieve better GCSE results in English and maths (from academics at CEM and Durham University). Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:

“The early years are a crucial time for development and we know that quality of teaching has the single biggest impact on how well children do in school.”

The “Bold Beginnings” report published by Ofsted in November 2017 also emphasised the significance of the teaching of the initial concepts of reading and numbers that takes place during reception:

“Put simply, by the end of reception, the ability to read, write and use numbers is fundamental. They are the building blocks for all other learning. Without firm foundations in these areas, a child’s life chances can be severely restricted.”

But the early years teaches so much more than that!